The World - News from May 9, 1986

Israel is planning to attack Syrian forces in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley within a week, Al Ittihad, a semiofficial newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, reported. The newspaper, quoting sources in Lebanon, said the Syrian army is on alert, expecting the Israelis to strike with Washington’s blessing. Syria has had troops in Lebanon since it intervened in 1976 in the Lebanese civil war. Meanwhile, CBS News reported that U.S. intelligence sources also believe that Israel is preparing for a major attack on Syria, to retaliate for a reported Syrian role in an attempt to put a bomb on an El Al airliner in London last month.